Someday
by Izzu
Summary: Set near the conclusion of 48. Sitting by himself in Cous Coussier, Eiji thought back about Ankh and what has transpired during the past several days.


az: Since the last part of Time judged all started to ring differently to me after the finale... so I revisitted the three episodes.

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><p><span>Someday...<span>

Written by Izzu

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**_"This hand… is no longer the hand you needed to reach out for."_**

"Ankh…"

Hina entered the restaurant to see Eiji sitting by himself beside the counter. She cocked her head as she approached him.

"Eiji-kun, what're you doing here? Where's Chiyoko-san?"

Eiji turned towards her before smiling.

"Unn… nothing. I'm just having a bit of thinking. Chiyoko-san went out shopping over stuff for tomorrow's theme," he said before sighing. "Hina… did you know about it, about Ankh's core medal cracking—?"

Hina smiled guiltily before sitting on the chair beside him. She nodded slowly. Eiji turned away.

"So I see. That was the _full_reason, wasn't it? It wasn't just because Dr. Maki had considered him no longer useful for his plans. It was also because Maki had attacked him—"

Hina shook his head in alarm. "That was not—"

Eiji smiled again to her. "Don't get me wrong. I understand. It was because Ankh still wanted to help me out… even if it was for the last time. Even at the cost of his own… that was why he asked for the ice cream, right? Because he wanted to… for the last time. Since it was Ankh. Because if it was any other Greeed, they would have surely fled to keep themselves alive. But unlike them, Ankh... knew how much I wanted to protect everyone. That's why he _stayed._"

Hina bit his lips as she tried her best not to shed a tear.

"Ankh would not allow me to tell you the truth. He said… because of the incoming battle, it's better for you not to know about what happened to him."

Eiji let out a long sigh. "He did… huh? I guess, he understood me _too_much. He knew… if I found out about it earlier, I'd try to do something to keep him away from harm's way. He knew I would try my best to protect him instead of concentrating on the battle."

He sighed, "I guess he _was _right. I _don't_understand a thing. And when I do… I guess you can say I'm a bit slow at it."

Eiji smiled weakly before turning to Hina. "But I was surprised Ankh told _you_about it."

Hina shrugged.

"Well, it wasn't as if he told me so easily. Earlier… he returned to Cous Coussier, before leaving hastily. I guess you could say I was troubled about it... since, we had parted on bad terms. But Chiyoko-san told me that I should have wanted more—that I should have wanted for _all_of you to come back safe. Because I have the right to… my brother, Eiji… Ankh… were all important to me."

She paused. "That's why… I went looking for Ankh. But when I finally found him… I saw so many cell medals lying around. Despite that, Ankh kept on saying that _brother_was all right. Only after I pressed him did he told me about what happened to him."

Eiji sighed again. "I guess that was my fault. I should have known after what happened at the beach, after Ankh had defied Maki when he tried to kill me… that Dr. Maki would go after Ankh. Considering Ankh had kept most of the medals at the time." He laughed mirthlessly. "I can't believe he used the ice reasoning back at my face!"

Eiji laughed again as Hina thought she saw him crying.

"I told him before that he doesn't understand the importance of life. Because he said what he really wanted was Life. So that he could be able to _taste_the world, a simple desire like that. But I guess it was something I neglected to notice. Greeed had no true life as humans, yet they desired more than humans. The things humans take for granted… the Greeeds would pursue them with every will they have. Because they realized that those are important things that should not be neglected." He bit his lips before giving Hina a sad smile.

"It took me almost becoming a Greeed completely to understand how that felt. Because I wanted power… to help others. I realized that I'm nothing without it, that _power_was important to allow me to do what I wanted to do. The same should be for Ankh. Because he knew how important is Life—that he would not allow me to throw it away so easily. That's why… even if he only had those three cores remaining on him, he gave it all up to allow me to save everyone."

Eiji took out something from his pocket before looking down towards it. Hina bent closer to see that it was the other half of Ankh's broken core.

Eiji's voice shook as he tried to prevent himself from breaking down. "Silly Ankh. Why did you have to look so happy?"

He recalled the time he was fighting Dr. Maki using the Tajadol combo. Using _Ankh's Tajadol combo_. Ankh would pop out randomly to disorient Maki during the fight—even he himself was taken by surprise at that. Then again, it was not as if he had fought before... using Ankh's personal hawk medal. Despite that, Ankh looked as if he was having the time of his life. Was being able to fight alongside him like that so enjoyable?

Hina smiled before taking out Ankh's other half of the broken core from her bag. "But I don't think Ankh sees it as something bad. I think Ankh really cared for you, Eiji… that he would want Eiji to keep on living. To keep on smiling. That's why… even if Ankh did not return to my side the same way you and brother did, I was grateful." Hina closed her palm before placing it on her chest. "Because even if I could no longer see him, Ankh was _here_. Even if it was broken, his _core_was still here. It did not disappear; Ankh did not disappear into nothing. I was glad… just for that fact..."

Hina placed the broken core onto Eiji's palm before he nodded his head. It seemed that Eiji had made up his mind about something.

"That's why… even if I do not know how yet, I will bring him back. That time, aside from the purple core medals that I saw myself being destroyed—the other core medals were not. They were only sucked into the space inside Dr. Maki when he was defeated. I'm sure… somewhere around this world, those medals could still be retrieved. The other cores did not disappear for good. So when I could finally retrieve all of them back, perhaps I could find a way to restore Ankh again. To properly give him the Life he was looking for all this time."

That was what he would do. That was what he wanted to do. Even if Ankh already said it was enough for him. 

**_"... You guys thought even a pile of medals like me could _**_die_**_. I could not find anything else more satisfying than that." _**

"Choosing you… ended up going well for me, after all. Don't be mistaken about that!"

No, he was not mistaken. But he did not find it wrong to still wanting to cling on Ankh. To still want Ankh by his side. Because Ankh… was very important. To him…

"About that… I'd like to express my thanks beforehand."

Eiji and Hina turned around hastily as Izumi Shingo smiled to them. Hina gasped.

"Brother! Since when have you been standing there? What about work?"

Shingo shrugged. "It's okay. A lot of things had happened but I managed to explain to them about everything. The chief let me off early today so that I could take it easy. So I thought to check on Eiji before going home."

He turned towards Eiji. "Eiji-kun, even if I could not say that I can talk on Ankh's behalf… I really do feel thankful. Even if you could not find a way to bring him back again, it's already enough. Ankh would never admit it—and he really didn't—but he was happy that he could spend all those times knowing everyone. Those feelings… those kinds of emotions, was something he had always wanted to feel after all."

"Shingo-san…" Eiji started to say.

Shingo chuckled. "Besides that, if you really missed him so much… I could always pretend to be him once a while," he said as Shingo suddenly took a long breath before looking up towards them. Suddenly Eiji noticed Shingo had cocked his head towards them in a manner that Ankh used to have. He also noticed that Shingo's eyes started to have that peculiar faraway stare that was only noticeable whenever Ankh was possessing him. That peculiar light in those eyes he often see whenever Ankh was around.

Shingo started opening his mouth to speak.

"So don't go running around doing things recklessly anymore, idiot Eiji! I'm fine as I am now! Hina too! Don't think you can bully me all the time as well!"

Eiji jumped as he and Hina blinked at the detective. Shingo grinned at them. Already he had reverted to his normal not-Ankh self. Eiji gaped at him.

"Shingo-san… that… I really thought Ankh had really come back! It really feels as if that was really Ankh that was talking!" Eiji chuckled. "Ankh really… _did_love to call me an idiot all the time. I guess I really am going to miss him telling me that all the time."

Shingo smiled. "Haha. Of course I could impersonate Ankh so well! I haven't been idle all this time after all. Didn't you remember? Whatever it was that Ankh had seen, felt, think while using my body, I've experienced it as well. Even that time, Eiji. That _Thank you_, those words really affected Ankh greatly."

Eiji blushed suddenly. "Ah! I guess… you did hear that as well. How embarrassing…"

Shingo smiled. "So did that cheered you up a bit? I could always do that anytime you're feeling down. Pretending to be Ankh, I mean."

Eiji hurriedly shook his head. "Ah no... it's okay. Thank you... Shingo-san."

"Then… brother still remembers everything, isn't it?" Hina asked as Shingo gave him a fond smile. He playfully flicked a finger on Hina's forehead before grinning.

"Yes, and I won't be saying anything else. Ankh would certainly be furious at me if I tattled all of his personal thoughts to you. Since Ankh is important to me as well."

Eiji smiled as he watched the two siblings started teasing one another and laughed together. He looked down at the two pieces of Ankh's broken hawk core medal. Hina was right, Ankh did not disappear. He was not the only one who felt it, Hina did as well. Even if it was broken, he could still feel _him_being nearby. And it was not just because Shingo was here.

He smiled weakly.

"Someday… Ankh." 

Someday we will meet again. Definitely!


End file.
